


The Tomb

by galactic-pirates (stillsearching47)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Horror, F/M, Gen, Happy Ending, Hook and Zelena die before the fic starts, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Minor Character Death, Possession, Rumbelle Revelry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-24 10:06:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8368267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillsearching47/pseuds/galactic-pirates
Summary: Written for Rumbelle Revelry. When Doctor French and Doctor Gold, partners in archaeology and in life, start excavating the ruins of a ziggurat, they have no idea what they are about to uncover. Buried in the sands for thousands of years, all they know of the tomb is the intriguing legend that surrounds it. Once upon a time a trickster god of magic held court there - he was known only as the Dark One. Two teams of four walk inside the tomb, to learn it’s secrets, but soon the only question that remains, is who is going to walk out alive?





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Rumbelled version of 5.08 The Tomb (Stargate SG-1). I know I gave this fic such an imaginative title :) My three prompt words were _‘Ruins’, ‘Scaredy Cat’_ and _‘Fallout’_ and I went with _‘Ruins’_. Not for fans of either Zelena or Hook, they aren’t in the fic but they are talked about in less than complimentary terms. I hope you guys, and especially my giftee _lawnmower-manatee_ enjoy it!

There was nothing quite like the desert. Doctor Daniel Gold stepped out of the RV which was his home for the duration of this dig. He was wearing full dark aviator sunglasses, but the intense glare of the sun still caused him to squint until his eyes adjusted. Gold took a deep breath. He had done archaeological excavations all over the world, from the rainforests in South America to the ice in the Antarctic. However, he preferred the desert, there was just something about the air.

His current dig was near Rafha in Southern Iraq, not the friendliest of spots but it was where the former kingdom of Mesopotamia had been. From the depths of a sand dune, a ziggurat had been unearthed, of Babylonia design. When he wasn’t digging for history, Gold had tenure at the University of California, Berkley. The university had worked out a deal with the Iraqi government, which allowed them to excavate and study the site. Most of the staff on the dig were hired locally but he’d brought his core team with him.

Gold weaved his way through the buzzing digsite to the large tent that was their headquarters. He pushed open the flap and smiled softly, seeing Belle was already there. She was frowning at the rubbing they had taken of the door to the ziggurat a few days ago, the translation was proving troublesome, and they couldn’t open the door until they worked it out.

“Good morning sweetheart,” Gold greeted.

He strode over and kissed her softly on the cheek before wrapping his arms around her from behind. Belle hummed happily and leant back against him. They had been married for just over ten years and Gold still felt like the luckiest man in the world. She twisted and gave him a loving kiss, which was just starting to deepen when he heard fake gagging sounds from the mouth of the tent.

“Get a room,” Neal complained playfully, moving into the tent and leaning against the center table.

Gold pretended to glare at his son for a moment, before just rolling his eyes and regretfully stepping back from his wife. Neal was due to start college in the fall, but until then he was happy to spend his summer vacation interning with his dad. Although, Gold noted wryly, that wasn’t because he wanted to spend time as a family. While the fact that it was a paid position didn’t hurt, it was mostly down to the second intern Gold had brought along - Emma Nolan.

David Nolan, Emma’s father, had worked with Gold on several digs and Gold was sorry not to have him along this time. David was a good man, but he’d had to regretfully decline Gold’s invitation because he was staying close to home these days, per his wife’s wishes. They’d had Emma when they were very young. Gold smirked, it had been a shock to almost everyone, for Emma to gain a baby brother just a couple of months ago.

Emma had leapt at the chance to intern alongside Neal. Truthfully Gold wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years he wasn’t calling Emma his daughter-in-law, something which would likely horrify her mother. Gold didn’t really understand why Mary Margaret disliked him so much, because he had always worked well with David. Mary Margaret’s disapproval gave Emma and Neal’s romance, a touch of the forbidden Romeo and Juliet magic, which just pushed them together even more.

“Doctor Gold, Doctor Gold,” one of the locals Gold had hired pushed open the tent, ducking his head in first Gold’s direction and then Belle’s.

“Mrs. Gold, Doctor French,” Gold corrected sharply for what felt like the hundredth time.

Belle shot him a fond expression and he gave her a loving look back. She had already started to establish a name for herself when they had got married. When he had proposed, she had immediately and enthusiastically accepted. However, in the following days he had been able to tell that something wasn’t right.

Gold remembered he had asked her what was bothering her, and she had confessed that she loved him, but she wanted to keep her professional name. He had then rolled his eyes exasperatedly, and told her that he supported her completely before pretending to be offended by her insinuation that he would mind. He had staunchly defended her as Doctor French ever since.

“Beg pardon Doctor French,” the local foreman apologized. “We are ready to begin.”

“You’ve uncovered the rest of the doorway?” Belle asked, with increasing enthusiasm.

The foreman nodded and Belle beamed and grabbed her pack. She dashed to the door before turning and picking up a sheaf of notes. She took a step towards the door before twisting to get a book. Gold watched her fondly, go to leave several more times, and pausing each time to grab something else, until she was juggling far too much in her arms. He moved forward.

“Allow me,” Gold murmured, taking several items from her.

Gold followed Belle out of the tent, Neal just behind him. Emma walked over, a large floppy hat shielding her from the sun. As a group they trudged through the sand, over the few hundred meters that separated them from the ziggurat. It was a large stone building that most people would mistake for a pyramid and, aside from what they had brought with them, the only thing that offered any shade for miles.

There was an immediate temperature drop as the moved into the entryway. The door to the inside of the ziggurat was set back a few meters. Gold carefully put down Belle’s gear. She didn’t acknowledge him, her focus was entirely on the new sections of the door. Her lips were moving as she sounded out the cuneiform symbols, before she absently looked down, picked up one of the books and started leafing through it.

“Neal, you and Emma go and get the rest of the gear,” Gold ordered. “When Belle gets the door open, we should hopefully have at least a few hours to start surveying before dark.”

Neal groaned theatrically but didn’t protest, trudging back out into the desert as Gold sat himself down on the sand. He suspected that this might take a couple of hours and he thought he might as well get comfortable.

*****

“I got it!” Belle declared excitedly. A moment later she frowned. “No, I don’t.”

Gold closed his eyes, and pinched his nose. That had happened at least half a dozen times in the last _four_ hours. He didn’t even twitch at the statement now, let alone stand up hopefully. This was taking much longer than he had thought but he knew that Belle would get it in the end. He glared balefully at his son, who obviously didn’t care whether they got the door open today or not. Gold had been forced to watch as Neal and Emma had snuck kisses for the past four hours.

Begrudgingly he supposed it was sweet, they were obviously bored by the wait, and it was much better that they were in front of him where he could see what they were up to, than somewhere else. He was after all supposed to be chaperoning them. That was why they were sharing an RV, it made for cramped accommodations, not to mention put paid to any private time Gold and Belle might have wanted. However, while they were interning with him, he was responsible for them.

“Belle, sweetheart.” Gold stood up and stretched. “I’m going to go back to the tent and ...”

“No, no, I nearly have it,” Belle told him distractedly.

“You’ve said that for the past three hours,” Gold pointed out carefully. “Now I won’t be ...”

He trailed off as his jaw dropped in disbelief. Then the anger kicked in, as striding towards him was someone he knew very well and hadn’t expected to see here - Regina Mills. Regina was his former protégé, he had been her advisor when she had pursued her doctorate. He had considered himself her mentor, and part of him had thought of her as family, right up until she had taken some of his unpublished research for her own.

“Regina, what are you doing here?” Gold asked, an obvious bite to his tone, the moment she got within earshot. Belle twisted round, her eyes wide at hearing Regina’s name.

“Same as you,” Regina drawled in reply. She gestured sharply. “Sidney, help the bookworm with the door.”

Belle flushed in anger, but said nothing as Sidney hurried over. She shot him a poisonous glare and he nervously stayed as far away from her as he could, and still be within range of the door. He adjusted his glasses and peered at the carvings which covered the doorway. The last two members of Regina’s team, Graham Hunter and Jefferson Madden, stood awkwardly behind her, waiting to see what was going to happen.

Gold bristled. “Surprised you’d risk your manicure,” he noted sarcastically.

“I’m surprised you’d go after Jones,” Regina shot back, raising an eyebrow.

“If Indy had been here, this door wouldn’t be intact,” Gold scoffed. “We both know we’re not here to look for Jones.”

Killian Jones was a wannabe archaeologist, who had been plaguing digs for years. He didn’t have a degree, let alone a doctorate, but fancied himself an expert on any ancient civilization that he was contracted to excavate. He was a mercenary, who had earned himself the derogatory nickname of ‘Indy’ after Indiana Jones, due to his tendency to destroy priceless artifacts in pursuit of anything that looked valuable.

It had taken Gold best part of a year to get the right permissions to start this dig. There had been rumors that Jones had been contracted by someone unwilling to wait, and Jones had gone missing ten months ago. However, Gold didn’t believe those rumors. The ziggurat had been half buried under a mountain of sand when they had started their excavation, and Jones had no skill in translation. He would have blown the doorway to bits.

Regina gave Neal and Emma a disparaging glance, and eyed Gold speculatively. “It looks like you could use the help Gold, and it would be nice to work with you again. What do you say, we join forces?”

“Absolutely not,” Gold refused adamantly. “Hell would have to freeze over first dearie. I don’t go into a site with people I don’t trust.”

“Come on Gold,” Regina coaxed. “It wouldn’t be difficult for me to get an injunction. You’d have to get your authorization all over again, only this time you’d have competition.”

Gold scowled and opened his mouth to deliver the most scathing retort he could think of, when Belle threw her hands up in the air in celebration.

“I have it,” Belle shouted, twisting and shooting Gold a jubilant smile. “It’s a giant combination lock. These passages here.” She tapped a few parts of the door. “Are out of order. Nobody except a Babylonian scholar would have noticed.”

“Decision time Gold,” Regina taunted. She gestured at Neal and Emma, before giving Belle a significant glance. “Are you sure you want to go in there, with no-one other than your family for backup?”

Gold sighed heavily. “Fine, we’ll work together,” he agreed reluctantly. “But I’m in charge, Regina. You follow my orders.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Regina said airily, waving her hand dismissively.

There was a loud rumble, as stone started to grind together. The ground shook as the stone circular door started to rise, pivoting to the side and upwards. Gold grabbed his pack, and switched on his flashlight. He glanced over at Neal and Emma who looked suitably impressed. Neal was practically vibrating, clearly itching to dive forward and enter the dark mouth of the tomb.

Gold pushed through the group and went in first, his flashlight scanning the area. It was very dark inside, and there were lots of broken bricks on the floor. He wasn’t sure how stable the ziggurat was, after all it was several thousand years old. The door mechanism was intact, but that didn’t mean that the structure hadn’t been compromised somewhere.

He moved forward carefully but without hesitation. Gold didn’t know what Regina had shared with her team, but he hadn’t told Emma and Neal the truth about this ziggurat. Belle knew of course, she was the one who had discovered the legend and thought it worth investigating. This ziggurat wasn’t part of the usual mythology for the area.

Legend stated that it had been a place of great power. This ziggurat had been something of a pilgrimage spot in it’s day, somewhere people journeyed great distances to visit. Apparently, according to the tales, they came to make a deal with the trickster god of magic - the dark one.

Gold pressed further into the tomb. The daylight let in by the open door was barely visible, when he came to a crossroads and hesitated. The flashlight wasn’t strong enough to see a difference between the paths. Regina pushed her way through the group to Gold’s side.

“We should split up,” Regina suggested.

“I don’t think so,” Gold scowled, before nodding begrudgingly in acquiescence. “Take Neal with you ... please.”

Regina smirked. “Then I’ll leave Graham with you, it’s only fair.”

“Fine,” Gold grunted in acceptance.

The two groups separated. Neal gave Gold a reassuring nod, he would watch over Regina and make sure she didn’t steal any artifacts, or otherwise do anything stupid. Gold sighed, he trusted Regina enough to let Neal go with her, he knew with absolute certainty that she wouldn’t let any harm come to him if she could prevent it. However, he didn’t trust her an inch when it came to sharing any of the discoveries.

Gold took the left path, and Regina took the right. Gold hadn’t gone much further when his flashlight illuminated a motionless form on the floor. He shifted, so that Belle was more behind him, as they drew closer. Perhaps the rumors of Jones and his team taking on this dig, had more truth in them than he had thought.

“Identify yourself,” Gold ordered.

The body didn’t move, and a moment later Gold saw why. It was nothing more than a skeleton, with the remains of it’s clothing, holding the bones in place. He crouched down next to it and blinked, seeing something gleam around the skeletons neck. It was metallic, reflecting the flashlight. Gold pulled a pen from his pocket, and gently lifted the metal chain. It was a set of dogtags, inscribed with the name Liam Jones.

“This is Killian Jones, or what’s left of him,” Gold said with certainty.

It seemed ‘Indy’ had somehow got the door open after all. Jones had worn his brothers dogtags in remembrance of him, he’d never taken them off. There could be no doubts as to the identity of the corpse.

“I thought he’d only been missing ten months,” Belle said puzzled. “The body shouldn’t have decomposed that fast.”

“It didn’t,” Gold said in a clipped tone. He pointed to the skeleton’s collar bone, shining the flashlight directly on it. “See those marks, the skeleton is covered in them. Something stripped the flesh right from his bones.”

“Ewwww,” Emma groaned, screwing up her face.

*****

Meanwhile, Neal followed Regina, Jefferson and Sidney, as they continued down the corridor. It branched off a couple of places, but they stayed on the main path. He played his flashlight around, and shook his head. This was nothing like the tombs he’d seen in the past. There should be more carvings on the walls, more stuff in the corridors generally.

He blinked, as up ahead the corridor opened out into a large room. There were several pillars in here, holding the ceiling up and he nodded in satisfaction. This was much more like it. Every square inch of this room was covered in carvings. He smiled, it would be like Christmas in July for his step-mother Belle. Nobody had read these carvings in thousands of years. Then Neal spotted the coffin. It was in the center of the room and something about it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“Gold,” Regina clicked the radio. “We’ve found a sarcophagus.”

“Leave it,” Gold ordered brusquely over the radio. “I’m on my way.”

Regina smirked and gestured to her teammates. “Let’s take a look.”

“Dad said to wait,” Neal objected but they didn’t stop.

Uneasily he moved forward, getting a better look at the sarcophagus, and he could now see what was so wrong about it. There were metal brackets bolted to the sides, half a dozen in total. They looked like they had been pried up and he swallowed hard, his hand sweaty against his flashlight. The sarcophagus had been sealed from the outside, beyond anything he had ever seen.

Those didn’t look decorative, they looked like they were designed to keep someone ... or something, trapped inside. Neal shifted awkwardly, hesitating at the back. He knew he should stop them but they were all adults and he was only eighteen. They weren’t going to listen to him, all he could do was watch so that they couldn’t get away with hiding anything.

Suddenly there was a click and the tomb started to shake violently. A few pieces of rock came tumbling down. Neal looked up at the ceiling with wide eyes, and then over towards Regina who was the team leader there.

“Run!” Regina ordered.

Jefferson and Sidney didn’t hesitate, brushing past Neal and diving down the corridor. Regina gave Neal a shove to get him moving. He twisted as he ran, looking behind him to make sure Regina was still there. Neal practically ran into his dad at the crossroads between the two corridors. The doorway to the outside was up ahead and the circular door was closing.

Sidney was closest and he ran for it. Neal’s jaw dropped in horror as Sidney got trapped between the door and the wall. Neal grabbed for Emma, and squeezed his eyes shut, and turned away. He couldn’t blot out Sidney’s agonized screams as he was crushed to death, but he could spare them both the sight. The tomb shook violently again and then a few moments later, it was over.

He shot Emma a grateful look, which was returned. He knew that Emma could take care of herself, and he wasn’t trying to protect her. If he did try, she would soon remind him how strong and independent she was. However, when faced with something that horrible, there was nothing wrong with drawing mutual comfort and support from one another. Neal turned and his eyes widened, seeing a mountain of rubble in front of the doorway, where the tomb had partially collapsed. That was not good.

*****

“Regina, what the hell happened?” Gold demanded angrily, the moment they reached what appeared to be the main central chamber.

He spared a glance for the sarcophagus, but for the moment all his attention was on his one-time student. When the tomb had started shaking, he’d been terrified, and he wasn’t above lashing out, to take his fear out on a convenient target - like Regina. They’d just witnessed a man die, a member of Regina’s team, and Gold felt a gnawing fear in his stomach, that it could have just as easily been any of them.

Graham moved forward, cautiously tapping his foot onto the platform where the sarcophagus rested. However, nothing happened. “Interesting trap,” he noted. “It doesn’t protect the sarcophagus, but it does lock you in with it.”

Regina scowled. “We were just exploring Gold, you would have done the same.”

Gold growled but didn’t respond, instead looking at the metal brackets. The dirt on them had been disturbed, and there were shiny scratches which were recent. His keen eyes picked out a discarded crowbar - Indy at work. He’d obviously pried open the bars to get inside the sarcophagus, perhaps hoping whoever was inside had been buried with their riches.

The whole ‘sealed from the outside’ part was weird, and it made him think about the legend of the dark one again. There was so much they didn’t know, but both he and Regina were here because of what had been implied. He sighed deeply, they might as well open up the sarcophagus, they couldn’t do anymore damage than had already been done. He grabbed the discarded crowbar.

“Graham give me a hand here,” Gold ordered kindly.

Jefferson and Neal darted forward to help as well, and the heavy top of the sarcophagus was cracked open, the two sides parting to reveal another skeleton. Gold shone his flashlight inside and frowned deeply. This skeleton bore the same teeth marks as Jones’s body. That was not good.

“Whatever killed this guy, killed Jones,” Gold commented.

Belle frowned. “How is that possible? This tomb is thousands of years old. How did it even get inside the sarcophagus?”

“Better question, where is it now?” Graham said darkly.

Unbeknownst to any of them, in another part of the tomb, a claw slashed through a webbed cocoon, as _something_ started to break free.


	2. Chapter 2

Gold paced up and down, in front of the sarcophagus. The central chamber wasn’t that large and his quick stride and turn was threatening to make him dizzy. However, his quick mind was racing, ticking over all the options, which were depressingly limited. They could just wait to be rescued, as the local team should have noticed that the door had shut.

He wished they could radio out, and he could bark orders to get them moving faster, but the signal seemed to just be bouncing off the solid exterior walls. That was a little odd as it was fine inside and the interior walls were also solid stone. It was a discrepancy he would usually be investigating by now, but at the moment he had far more pressing priorities.

The local team had been trouble from the beginning, they regarded this area with a lot of superstition. Gold didn’t trust that they wouldn’t just run away and leave them in here to die. They all carried a canteen of water, and a few emergency rations, but that would only sustain them for a few days at best - they needed to find another way out of here.

“Sweetheart are you alright?” Gold asked sharply, suddenly seeing Belle practically recoil from the wall. He quickly strode over the few paces that separated them and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Belle said quickly, visibly gulping and he could tell that she was trying hard not to vomit.

“What is it?” Gold insisted.

Belle gestured to the writing on the pillar which she had been translating. “This says that there was an uprising against the dark one, who resided here. He was imprisoned in the sarcophagus, along with several rats.”

Jefferson got it first. “That’s disgusting,” he said flatly.

Gold saw Neal link hands with Emma, his face screwing up at the thought. Gold better understood his wife’s nausea now, he had to swallow back bile himself. In terms of ways to die, being trapped in a coffin and eaten alive, had to be one of the worst.

“It gets worse,” Belle said hollowly, and Gold moved closer, putting his arm round her shoulders.

“How could it get worse than that?” Neal asked disbelievingly.

“The dark one was supposedly immortal,” Belle continued. “Apparently only one thing could kill him - a cursed dagger. However, there’s a warning written here, whomever killed him would suffer his fate.” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s not very clear.”

“Sounds like whomever killed him would also die,” Graham suggested.

There was a general murmur of agreement but Gold had a nagging feeling that it wasn’t as simple as that. If that had been the case, someone would have taken one for the team a few thousand years ago. There would have been no need for special measures with the brackets on the sarcophagus, and the rats.

Belle narrowed her eyes, and slipped out of Gold’s embrace to look closer at the next part of the pillar. “This part describes the dark one. He was said to be a man, but warped by his magical power, he was covered in green scales.”

“So a lizard man,” Emma said flatly, causing Neal to snigger.

“Perhaps the origins of the ‘lizards rule the world’ conspiracy theory,” Neal joked.

Gold looked over at Regina, who had remained suspiciously quiet this entire time. He raised an eyebrow at her and she did the same in response, challenging him to say something first. Gold looked at Belle, who was walking round the pillar, still puzzling over the rest of the translation. He would wait and see what the end of the story was first, before offering comment.

“It says here that they hoped the dark one would eventually succumb to death, even if his magic kept him alive far longer than a normal man,” Belle read, as her eyes scanned the carvings. “They wanted him to suffer, they wanted it to take a long time. Even back then it was considered a cruel and unusual punishment, but it was considered just because of his evil.”

“A different time and a different culture,” Gold offered.

“Still disgusting,” Jefferson said dryly.

“I don’t think anyone is arguing that dearie,” Gold pointed out. He rubbed his fingers together nervously, this place was making them all jittery. He didn’t want to wait on the hope of rescue, they needed to search for another way out of here. “We need to look for a back entrance, there’s sure to be one somewhere.”

“We should split up to cover more ground,” Regina suggested.

Gold set his jaw, that made sense but he didn’t like the idea. He wanted to keep his family close to him, out of a misplaced sense of protectiveness. He didn’t know if he would be able to protect them from whatever horrors this ziggurat was hiding, but it would make him feel better if they were with him.

However, he knew that was just his unease talking. There was no evidence that there was anything in here, that was anymore dangerous than what they would find at any digsite. If they split up, then hopefully they would find the exit quicker, and be out of here even faster. It was worth the risk, even if his instincts were screaming otherwise.

“Emma, go with Graham. Neal, with Jefferson. Regina, you are with me and Belle,” Gold decided.

Jefferson and Graham both had years of experience, which would hopefully be safer for Neal and Emma, than teaming them up together. Neal scowled at the order, but knew better than to argue and he let go of Emma’s hand. He moved over and slapped Jefferson on the back, giving him a winning smile, which Jefferson returned with a wink.

“I’m going to stay here,” Belle announced. Gold opened his mouth to argue, and she held up her hand to stop him. “I’m going to keep translating, the way out could be written on these walls.”

Gold sighed and nodded in acquiescence. He really didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone, but just like his son, he knew when arguing would be pointless. He ran his hand down her face, and leant in to kiss her softly.

“Stay safe,” Gold whispered.

Belle smiled at him. “You too.”

He nodded and turned to leave. Regina had a faintly disgusted expression on her face which amused him, especially when he remembered why she would feel that way. He’d been dating Belle for a couple of months, when he’d become Regina’s thesis advisor. She’d swiftly learned to knock and wait before entering his office, after walking in on quite a show. After that, every gesture of affection between him and Belle had been met with disgust.

Gold watched Jefferson and Neal, and Graham and Emma head out and turn in opposite directions. He gestured for Regina to go first and she smirked at him, and mockingly repeated the gesture. In the end they walked out together, and Gold saw her eyes flicker over to Belle before the solid stone wall blocked her view.

“I see ten years, hasn’t changed anything between you and your little wife,” Regina drawled.

“Ten years is nothing, when you have true love,” Gold told her. Regina shot him a dark look and he chuckled. “I hope you find someone for yourself one day Regina, then you’ll know what I mean. To love someone so much, that an eternity together wouldn’t be enough.”

Regina groaned. “Spare me, please.”

*****

Meanwhile in another part of the tomb, Emma was following Graham. She counted her breaths, and tried to force herself to relax, but her shoulders tensed at every slight shadow she saw. She was gripping her flashlight so hard, her knuckles were white. When her dad talked about archaeological digs, he’d never mentioned anything like this.

 _‘Don’t be a coward Emma,’_ she told herself. She didn’t want to be the scared, screaming girl in the story. She wanted to be the kick-ass heroine, who rolled her eyes at the dramatics of others and just dealt with the situation. However, in the darkness of this tomb, she couldn’t help but feel like her courage was slipping away. Graham froze in front of her and Emma held her breath.

Graham turned to her, and gave her a warm reassuring smile. “It’s alright, nothings home.”

“Nothings home?” Emma repeated darkly.

She shone her flashlight around, to see what Graham was talking about and her eyes widened. Up on the ceiling there was a broken cocoon - a very large cocoon. Emma swallowed hard, and focused on her breathing again to try and stifle her rising panic. She did _not_ want to meet whatever beast had called that home.

Unknown to either of them, just a few feet behind them, the beast in question scurried past. It was heavily cloaked in shadow, so in the darkness of the tomb, neither of them saw the movement. The slight scratch it’s claws made on the stone, was drowned out by the panicked beating of their hearts.

*****

“Look,” Regina said suddenly, pointing to the left of the corridor.

Gold shone his flashlight in that direction, spotting an archway which led into a small chamber. He blinked, the chamber was full of very recognizable gear. There was a small camping stove, the metal reflecting the brilliant beam of the torch. Surrounding the stove were four bedrolls, two of which were occupied.

Together they moved forward. Gold crouched down next to one of the bodies. It was just a skeleton and it bore the same marks as the others. He scowled, that was going past odd and heading for downright disturbing. Perched on the skull was a red beanie hat, the only indicator as to the identity of the corpse.

Regina crouched next to the other body. There was a notebook clasped in the fingers of the skeleton. Gingerly she removed it and flipped through it.

“Gold.” Regina tossed him the book. “Explains how Indy got the door open, he had help. Doctor Zelena Green, now you remember her?”

“Unfortunately,” Gold growled.

Zelena Green had come to Berkley a few years ago as part of a ‘professor swap’ for a semester. For some unfathomable reason, which just might have made sense in her crazy mind, she had decided to pursue him romantically. Never mind that he was happily married, or that he thought that she was a crazy bitch. For months he had been afraid to leave his office, because she would accost him in the halls, even going as far as to try and touch him intimately.

He had reported her of course, but it was his word against hers, not to mention it was embarrassing. The final straw had come when he’d walked into his office and found her reclined naked on his desk. At that point, there was only two weeks left of the semester. He’d walked out and called in sick, unwilling to stay in the same building as his stalker. Belle had been furious, she had already had it out with Zelena twice to no effect.

Gold smiled at the memory. Rather than fruitlessly scream at Zelena for a third time, instead Belle had decided to try and help him forget the horrific sight. They hadn’t ventured much further than the bedroom for three days.

Regina looked at Gold speculatively. She could see he wasn’t paying her any attention, so she reached into the pack that was resting next to Zelena, withdrawing a ornate silver dagger with a black pommel handle. The blade was wavy, and there was something etched onto the face, but she couldn’t take the time to read it now. Regina slipped the dagger into her inside jacket pocket and straightened.

She was about to suggest to Gold that they moved on, when an agonizing scream rent the air.

*****

Neal followed Jefferson down the corridor, trying to ignore how his gut was twisting. He had been on digs with his dad a lot over the years, especially when he was younger. Tombs weren’t anything new to him, and he didn’t buy into all the scary stories. In fact he was usually the first to help prank the newbies, or to tell a scary story round the campfire about curses and zombies. However, this ziggurat felt different from the others.

He’d never been trapped inside one before, so he tried to reason his unease away. It wasn’t like there was going to be a problem, his dad would take care of it. There was nothing on this planet that his dad wouldn’t do, to protect him and Belle. He would get them all safely out of here. Neal didn’t have any doubts about that, he trusted his father. This tomb was just a scary place.

“Kinda spooky man,” Neal commented, breaking the silence.

Jefferson cracked a grin. “I’ve seen worse.”

“You have not,” Neal scoffed. Jefferson shrugged nonchalantly. “Alright then, hit me. Go on, I want to hear the story.”

“Well it was a dark and stormy night,” Jefferson started, twisting to smirk at Neal again.

“Look out!” Neal yelled, seeing a dark form jump from the shadows and lunge at Jefferson.

Jefferson howled in agony, and started thrashing around. Neal panicked, scrabbling in his pack for something he could use for a weapon. His hand closed round the hammer he carried, as part of the hammer and chisel set for carefully excavating items. Neal swung it wildly at the large beast.

“Report! Report!” Gold screamed down the radio.

Neal swung again and again, and Jefferson kept on screaming. Whether that was because Neal was hitting him, more than the beast, Neal didn’t know. Jefferson was thrashing about so much, that it was hard to get a straight shot.

“Not me,” Belle reported through the radio.

“Not us either,” Emma added and the radio crackled.

Jefferson fell to the floor, finally giving Neal a decent shot. He swung the hammer down with all his might, and the beast finally let go. It darted to one side, and disappeared down the corridor faster than Neal could blink.

“Neal! Neal!” Gold yelled, in obvious panic.

Neal gasped for breath, his eyes wide, shining the flashlight beam all around him, but he couldn’t spot the beast. It appeared to have disappeared for the moment. Neal fumbled for his radio.

“I’m fine,” he shouted. “But Jefferson’s hurt.”

“Fall back to the central chamber,” Gold ordered loudly.

Neal shakily let go of the radio and looked down at Jefferson. “Get up man,” he pleaded.

Jefferson groaned, and Neal reached down to help him, hauling him up. He looped Jefferson’s arm round his shoulders, and started to half-carry him back to the central chamber. Jefferson’s feet were unsteady and he kept stumbling.

“It’s going to be ok,” Neal whispered, wondering whether he was trying to convince Jefferson or himself.

*****

When Gold had heard that agonizing scream cut through the air, he thought that his heart might actually have stopped. He had instantly reached for his radio, but it felt like he was moving through treacle as the world slowed down. He didn’t honestly think he’d ever been that terrified and the fear didn’t lessen, on hearing that Belle, Emma and Graham were fine. That meant it was Neal and Jefferson who had run into trouble - that it was his son that could have screamed like that.

When Neal’s voice came on the radio and confirmed he was alright, Gold felt like crying just from the sheer relief. He had hoarsely ordered him back to the central chamber, knowing that he wouldn’t truly feel better until he saw him with his own eyes, and checked him over for any injuries. Unfortunately, Neal and Jefferson were the last to arrive. Gold was agitatedly pacing when finally Neal appeared, half-dragging Jefferson inside.

“Set him down here,” Belle ordered.

Neal lowered Jefferson in front of one of the pillars, sitting him up, with his back against it. Belle crouched down next to him, to look over the wound.

“Don’t scare me like that!” Emma yelled, punching Neal hard in the shoulder.

“Sorry.” Neal gave her a crooked smile. Emma looped her arms round his neck and pulled him close for a passionate kiss.

Gold grimaced and Regina shot him an amused look. He could practically hear her cackling about karma, and how it was payback for the affection he enjoyed with Belle. At least he could be relatively certain that Neal was alright, his breathing at least didn’t seem to have been affected, as they hadn’t yet come up for air.

“Is he going to be alright?” Gold crouched down next to Belle and Jefferson.

Belle pursed her lips. “His wound is pretty bad. It’s gone puffy, looks like some kind of toxin was injected, see the black lines coming from it.” She pointed to the wound on Jefferson’s neck and straightened. Gold rose to his feet, and she leant close to him, whispering in his ear. “If we don’t get out of here soon, and get him to a hospital, I don’t think that he’ll ...”

She trailed off but her meaning was clear. Gold kissed her lightly on the cheek. “It’ll be ok,” he promised.

“This was supposed to be a rescue mission,” Graham said suddenly.

Gold looked at Regina. “Ah and it all becomes clear. That was how you got clearance to be here. You sold them on a mission to go after Jones.”

Regina shrugged, a slight smirk on her lips. “Perhaps, but that doesn’t matter now. It would appear there is no-one left to rescue.”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that,” Gold disagreed. His gaze falling meaningfully on every person in the room. After all, they still had to rescue themselves.

“Neal, what attacked Jefferson?” Belle asked, turning to look at him.

Reluctantly, Neal pulled back from Emma’s embrace. “I don’t know, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen. It was huge and covered in green scales, they shimmered a little in the light.”

Gold frowned at the fantastical description. “Some kind of serpent?”

“No it was shaped more like a rat, but massive. I don’t know what it was, but I whacked it pretty good with my hammer, so hopefully ...” Neal shuddered lightly. “I really don’t want to run into it again, you know?”

“You won’t,” Gold stated firmly. “Graham stay here and keep a lookout, Regina and I will keep looking for a way out.”

“Dad, no!” Neal objected. “This place is like a maze, it’ll go so much faster with two teams.”

“You aren’t going out there again!” Gold shouted, causing Belle to wince as he had practically shouted in her ear. He shot her an apologetic glance.

“If we were any other interns you would let us go,” Neal argued. “If we weren’t family ...”

“But you are!” Gold interrupted softly. “Please, Neal,” he pleaded.

Belle squeezed his hand and he looked searchingly at her. Her expression radiated the endless patience, support and love she had for him. She didn’t need to speak, they didn’t need words between them, he could see the truth in her eyes. It was his fear talking, because he was terrified for all of them. He needed to let that fear go, and try and think rationally, because if he was here with anyone other than his family, he would let them go. Gold sagged in defeat.

“Fine,” Gold muttered miserably. “You and Emma together. Graham stay here with Belle and Jefferson. Regina, you are with me again.” He glanced at Jefferson. “We need to find a way out, we’re running out of time.”


	3. Chapter 3

Belle sat cross legged on the floor, idly tapping a pencil against her lips. This translation wasn’t tricky, not now she had cracked the syntax which had been giving her fits for the past week. However, it felt like every square inch of this central chamber was covered in carvings. She didn’t want to skip translating any sections, in case the way out was scribbled randomly in the middle of an account of some random historical event.

It wouldn’t be so bad, except for the fact that most of the stories on these walls made her want to throw up. She was starting to understand exactly why they had thought the ‘dark one’ deserved to die a slow, and painful, death. People had come to him searching for hope, for salvation, and he had tricked them into deals they didn’t understand, to pay the price of his magic.

“Did you hear that?” Graham suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Belle shook her head. “Heard what?”

“Wait here,” Graham commanded, striding towards the exit.

“Seriously?” Belle rolled her eyes. “Yes, you go down the dark hallway alone, and I’ll wait here in the dark room all alone.”

She shot a dark look at the archway entrance and then turned back to the translation. This part was interesting, and answered a lingering question she’d had from earlier. The story of what had happened to the dark one, had included the warning that _‘whomever killed him would suffer his fate’_ which they had taken to assume that his killer would also die. However, this passage suggested otherwise.

Belle reached for her radio. “Hey, I have something.”

“A way out?” Gold asked over the radio.

“Ah no,” Belle said, cringing as she realized that she’d just got their hopes up for a second, for no good reason. “It’s about the dark one. You remember I said earlier, that the tale said only his cursed dagger could kill him? And that whomever killed him would share his fate?”

Gold clicked the talk button and hesitated. “Sweetheart this is interesting but ...”

“It says that the cursed dagger would pass on the curse of the dark one,” Belle interrupted. “It’s reading like a malevolent possession and I just thought ...” It was her turn to hesitate because while it made sense, she thought it would sound stupid when she said it out loud. “I thought that maybe it explained the monster that attacked Jefferson.”

“How?” Gold pressed.

“Remember the description of the dark one, green shimmering scales. Perhaps the monster was originally a rat, maybe the dark one survived by possessing the final rat,” Belle suggested. The radio hissed with nothing but silence. “Please, say something.”

*****

Elsewhere in the tomb Gold didn’t know what to say. He exchanged a glance with Regina, who simply shrugged in response. They both knew what they were there for, it was all about the legend and the power that these ruins supposedly contained. Anyone would be tempted by talk of such limitless power. It was like dreaming of winning the lottery, everyone knew what they would do with the money. However, even half-believing in the legend, Gold was skeptical that the dark one was possessing a magically warped monster rat.

“It’s a theory,” Gold allowed in the end.

“Yeah, magic is real,” Neal scoffed over the radio. Gold could hear Emma laughing in the background.

“I know, it’s probably a ridiculous idea.” Belle sighed. “It’s just, I don’t know, a feeling.”

“It’s not ridiculous,” Gold stated softly. He wished he was with her, so he could hold her in his arms. He could tell she needed comfort right now, but then they all did. “Neal didn’t recognize the beast that attacked Jefferson, so all options are still on the table. This ziggurat was sealed, so how anything survived in here ...”

“It came in with Jones’s team,” Neal interrupted. “Look I’m sorry Belle, I just don’t buy the magic thing.”

“Everyone wants a magical solution for their problems, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.” Regina smirked and looked pointedly at Gold.

“Nice sentiment dearie,” Gold said dryly. “But you and I both know, we’ve seen more than enough to at least be open to the idea.”

Regina hummed in agreement. “All legends have a grain of truth in them, all the stories have to start somewhere. When you are digging history out of the dirt, you see a few things.”

*****

Meanwhile Neal was trying not to jump out of his skin, at every lump of rock the flashlight illuminated. If he’d thought that he’d been nervous last time, he was a hundred times more scared now. All that talk of magical beasts just made things worse. He had scoffed and said he didn’t believe, but that was because he didn’t _want_ to believe. In actual fact the hairs on the back of his neck were prickling, because this tomb had felt wrong to him from the start.

“Is it just me or have we been down this passageway before?” Emma asked. She swallowed visibly and reached for Neal’s hand, which he gratefully clasped.

His other hand trailed the flashlight around, spotting a mark they’d made on the wall. His face twisted. “Yup, we have.”

“You were right, this place is like a maze,” Emma groaned and then screamed, jumping backwards, nearly knocking Neal to the ground.

“Report!” Gold yelled down the radio.

“It’s alright dad,” Neal answered quickly. “That was Emma but we’re fine.”

“What happened?” Gold demanded.

Neal gingerly stepped forward. There, laying spread eagled on the ground, was the beast that had attacked Jefferson. Now it was motionless, and he could get a good look, it did seem more like an oversized rat. Neal gulped, perhaps his step-mother was right after all. It was a giant rat, covered in shimmering green scales. He kicked it, but there was no reaction.

“The beast fell on Emma - it’s dead,” Neal reported. “You know I think Belle might have been right and if this thing was possessed, then the demon dark one could be in any of us.”

*****

Gold whirled on Regina. His heart was pounding, as the paranoia took hold. Gold looked at her suspiciously, and Regina narrowed her eyes at him. He pulled the pistol that he’d kept hidden in the small of his back all this time. He always carried it on digs, mostly in case of snakes or some other animal attack. He leveled it at Regina, only to find that she was carrying her own pistol, and she was pointing hers directly at his head.

The radio crackled. “I’m pretty sure it’s not Emma or me,” Neal said. “Unless the darkness invaded you, when that thing landed on you.”

“I think I would have noticed a vortex of evil,” Emma said sarcastically. “Belle?”

“I’m here with Jefferson, I think we’re both fine,” Belle reported hesitantly. “Though, there’s no way to tell if any of us are lying.”

“I know it’s not me,” Gold told Regina, ignoring the radio for now.

“And I know it’s not me,” Regina shot back.

Keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Regina, Gold reached for his radio. “Neal, you and Emma fall back to the central chamber with Belle,” he ordered. “I’ll be right there.”

Gold stared unblinkingly at Regina, and she stared right back. Both of them barely breathing as they waited for the other to make the first move. Gold knew that if he moved an inch Regina would shoot him, just as Regina knew that if she moved an inch he would shoot her. He didn’t particularly want to shoot her, unless she was possessed by the dark one, but there was so little trust between them, he didn’t see how they would both get out of this alive.

It was down to who was going to blink first.

Then Gold heard the scratch of a shoe against the loose stone in the corridor. He didn’t dare turn to see who it was, but Regina was facing more that way and she could see the entrance, without taking her eyes off him.

“Graham, subdue Gold,” Regina ordered.

“No,” Graham cackled, his voice much higher pitched than his usual deep Irish brogue. “I won’t be doing that.”

In one synchronized movement, Gold and Regina twisted and fired at Graham. Gold’s jaw dropped as Graham smirked, raised his hand and the bullets halted in mid-air, before falling harmlessly to the ground. Gold could hear Regina swearing, and for once he was in complete agreement, that was really not good.

“I know you have it!” Graham hissed. “I want my dagger - give it to me!”

*****

Back in the central chamber, Belle wasn’t ashamed to admit that she was slightly terrified. Jefferson had been still and quiet, propped up against one of the rooms pillars. She had thought that he might have passed out, and she had been worried that he might just stop breathing when she wasn’t looking. However, after the radio conversation he had started rolling around and grunting and she didn’t know if that meant he was possessed or if the toxin was affecting him.

She had a hammer of her own, and her flashlight, which she could hit him with if necessary. Belle eyed him warily, she knew she needed to finish translating this section. It was making an interesting reference to a ‘disappearing act’, which could just be more of the dark one’s magic, but she didn’t think it was. If the dark one had been capable of teleportation, then the sarcophagus wouldn’t have held him for a moment, let alone thousands of years.

It sounded far more like a parlor trick, an illusion to suggest power that he didn’t have. Which meant that somewhere in this inner sanctum, there was a secret doorway and hidden passage. It might just lead elsewhere in this ruined tomb, or it might lead to the outside but be far too buried under the sand dunes for them to escape that way. However, they wouldn’t know until she finished this translation, and then investigated.

“Belle,” Neal greeted cautiously, sliding into the room and looking at her suspiciously, or more accurately at the hammer and flashlight she was tightly gripping.

She breathed a sigh of relief and lessened her hold. “Jefferson was scaring me a little. Can you watch him, I think this part describes a way out.”

Suddenly Jefferson lurched to his feet, he twisted and Belle caught sight of his eyes. Her stomach lurched, his eyes were filled with madness. He cackled and staggered forward, falling into the wall by the entrance to the chamber, and then lumbered down the corridor, picking up speed as he went. Neal moved to stop him.

“No, don’t!” Belle yelled. “Let him go.”

Neal froze. “Dad’s still out there,” he argued, taking another step after Jefferson.

“And he values our safety more than his own,” Belle countered, quickly. Neal paused, framed by the doorway, he sagged in unwilling acceptance.

“If he’s not back in five minutes, we’re _all_ going after him right?” Neal checked, his tone almost pleading like he thought she might refuse.

Belle’s heart twisted. She couldn’t imagine a world without Daniel Gold, she didn’t _want_ to imagine a world without him. He was her husband, the love of her life and the ten years they’d been married wasn’t enough - eternity wouldn’t be long enough. It wasn’t going to end this way. She wasn’t going to let it. He would have to be alive to be mad at them, and she could live with that, hopefully they all could.

“Absolutely,” Belle growled in promise.

Her heart was racing, and she itched to run or just do something, but she forced herself to focus on the translation and not the ticking clock. Her husband had promised that he would ‘be right there’, and he had five minutes to make good on that, before they went to find him. It was going to be the longest five minutes of her life.

*****

“My dagger now!” Graham demanded.

Gold risked a glance at Regina. “You found the dagger and you didn’t say a word?”

“Oh please,” Regina said scornfully. “Like you would have done any different.”

“Enough!” Graham roared.

Graham held out his hand, palm upwards, and a fireball formed. Gold blinked at the brightness of the light. It flickered and bounced off the stone walls of the small room, illuminating it far more clearly than even their industrial strength flashlights. Gold gulped and looked askance at Regina, who still hadn’t moved. Although it wasn’t like there was much of a choice here. Either Regina handed the dagger over and then he killed them, or he killed them and took the dagger from their smoking corpses.

Regina reached into her jacket and withdrew the shiny, wavy dagger. “Is this what you want?” she asked sweetly, holding it loosely and waving it in the air.

“Are you seriously taunting him _now_?” Gold gave her a look of pure disbelief.

“What? It’s not like he can kill us twice,” Regina said darkly, shrugging lightly.

Graham snarled and took a step forward, when a dark shape barreled out of the entrance and tackled him to the ground. Gold blinked - it was Jefferson. The two men rolled around on the ground. Jefferson was kicking and punching, shoving his thumb into Graham’s eye socket. Graham roared and there was a pulse, which sent Regina and Gold crashing back against the walls. The dagger fell to the ground.

“Get out of here!” Jefferson screamed.

Gold side-stepped the flailing limbs and leant down, deftly scooping up the dagger. He looked wildly at Regina. “If I stab us both, it’ll loop. We’ll both die and the curse will end.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Regina said sharply. Her expression twisted in a mix of pain and regret, but she was resolute. “I don’t have a family, I’ll do it!”

“Regina I ...” Gold started, not at all sure what to say to that offer but it seemed like neither of them were going to get a chance to do anything.

Gold looked at the two battling men but there wasn’t an opening. They were twisting and flailing, and moving so fast, it would be impossible to get close enough to stab Graham at all. Let alone get a good enough grip to stab through Graham and into himself. Suddenly there was a groaning sound. Gold looked up at the ceiling in horror, spotting a crack that was increasing by the second.

He grabbed for Regina and they ran forward, she stumbled over the two fighting men and he pulled her forward, diving out of the room just in time. Behind them the ceiling collapsed and the ruins of the ziggurat shuddered, as the stone just kept falling. Gold rolled over, wincing at the agony that lanced through his leg. His knee had hit the ground hard and it felt like the bone had splintered, and was sending shards of pure pain radiating from the joint.

“Jefferson,” Regina gasped, scrambling to her feet. She fell back to her knees and grabbed at the chunks of stone, grimacing as she heaved them enough, to roll them to one side. She twisted back to look at Gold. “Don’t just sit there, help me!”

Gold groaned and hauled himself to his feet. For one long moment, he didn’t think his leg would take his weight. The world spun, and he was certain he was about to throw up. He clutched at the wall and took a deep breath before staggering forward. He looked down, Jefferson had mostly avoided the falling rocks, and was only partially buried. Covered in dust, and bleeding from a gash on his head, Jefferson grinned crazily at Gold, before coughing and his eyes started to slide close.

“Don’t you dare,” Regina snapped at him. “Jefferson stay with us. Gold help me pull him out.”

“Move that rock there, and then take his arm,” Gold suggested. He leant down and grabbed Jefferson’s right arm. He braced his left leg, trying to put as little weight on his right leg as possible. Regina shifted one last rock, and took Jefferson’s other arm. “Pull!”

Jefferson slid out of the rubble pile and they sat him up. Regina crouched down, looping Jefferson’s arm over her shoulders. She glared expectantly at Gold. He gritted his teeth and helped haul Jefferson up. Jefferson’s legs flailed weakly at the ground, as they suspended him between them. Gold growled low in his throat as they took the first step forward, and black spots formed in front of his eyes. He felt like he could barely support himself, let alone Jefferson.

He reached for his radio but it had smashed in the melee, and Regina appeared to have lost hers. No help was coming. He looked somberly over at Regina, as they dragged themselves along, one step at a time. They were all silent. Gold certainly felt stunned by events, and no matter that Graham had been possessed, a good man had just died. He had been one of them. Thankfully Jefferson started to take a little more of his own weight.

Gold looked at him with a mix of admiration and disbelief. “You don’t give up do you?”

“Not until I’m dead,” Jefferson said hoarsely. He shot Gold a crazy grin. “And sometimes not even then.”

Slowly, they continued on and Gold felt nothing but pure relief when they turned the corner, and saw the entrance to the central chamber up ahead. Neal must have heard their approach as he poked his head out. His eyes widening when he saw them.

“Oh thank merlin,” Neal exclaimed. “We were just about to come and find you.”

“Neal, give us a hand son,” Gold gasped.

Neal dashed forward and grabbed Jefferson’s arm, throwing it round his own neck, relieving his father of the burden. Gold staggered with the sudden drop in weight, falling against the nearest wall before managing to propel himself forward into the central chamber. Belle glanced up at the sound and before he could blink, she was at his side.

“What have you done to yourself?” Belle murmured sympathetically. She helped him over to the center and he leaned against the sarcophagus, because he thought if he sat down on the ground, he wouldn’t be able to get back up again.

“I’m alright,” Gold insisted tiredly. “Look at Jefferson.”

Belle gave him a disbelieving look but didn’t argue. She turned and crouched down next to Jefferson. Neal and Regina had deposited him back leaning against the same pillar from earlier. It was obvious that whatever burst of adrenaline had sustained him earlier, had now completely worn off, he was looking really bad.

Gold could see how grim Belle’s expression was and he knew that Jefferson wasn’t going to make it. Belle had some medical training, she’d taken a course on emergency medicine. She loved to learn and with how people got injured on digsites, it was always helpful to have someone around that knew the basics. However, Jefferson’s injuries, not to mention the toxin, were extensive. A trained doctor and a well equipped emergency room would probably struggle to save him.

“I found a way out,” Belle stated.

She straightened and strode over to one corner of the room. There were two carvings there, and she twisted both of them in a half circle. There was a grinding sound and then a section of the wall started to rise up to the ceiling. Emma shone her flashlight down the newly exposed tunnel, but the light was swallowed up the endless blackness. They could only see a few feet down. Neal and Belle added their flashlight beams, Gold peered through them but even with the added light, the tunnel stretched on too far for them to see the end.

“I’ll go first,” Gold grimaced, as he started to limp heavily over towards the tunnel entrance.

Regina screamed. He twisted and saw Graham stumble into the room. He grabbed at Regina and she whacked him in the head with her flashlight, sending him stumbling backwards. She staggered back, looking at him fearfully as she joined the others by the tunnel entrance. Jefferson’s eyes snapped open and he moaned softly.

Gold pulled the dagger from his belt. He looked over at Belle and Neal, they were staring at Graham in horror. Gold spared Graham a glance, he did look awful. He was covered in blood and dust, his arm was broken and the white jagged bone was sticking out through the flesh. Graham’s eyes were crazed, staring at Regina but then they snapped over to Gold, and Graham snarled seeing the dagger in his hand.

“Mine,” Graham hissed lumbering forward.

Jefferson threw out his leg, and Graham tripped to the ground. Jefferson threw himself on top of Graham, weakly trying to pin him down with nothing but his body weight and one arm. The other arm he threw out at Gold.

“Give, give!” Jefferson screamed.

Gold hesitated for a second, he had been going to do it. He was going to tell Neal and Belle that he loved them and then he would destroy Graham, and the dark one demon that was inhabiting him. However, his hesitation only lasted for a second, and then he slapped the dagger into Jefferson’s outstretched hand. Jefferson reached round Graham’s bucking body and stabbed him through his back, into his heart. He roared and hugged Graham tighter, plunging the blade even further through Graham’s chest, impaling himself on the tip.

There was a bright flash of light and then both men stopped struggling and went still.


	4. Chapter 4

“Are they dead?” Neal broke the shocked silence.

Gold studied both fallen men, there were no signs of movement but he was loathe to get any closer to check. The Dark One could be possessing either Jefferson or Graham now, and playing possum just waiting for someone to get close enough. Gold tore his eyes away from them, to look over at his family. Emma was chalk white, but there was a set in her jaw which spoke of strength. She was her fathers daughter and would be fine, though Gold didn’t look forward to the earful he would get from her mother.

Neal’s eyes were blown wide. As Gold watched, he saw his son reach over and take Emma’s hand, both to draw and give comfort. It was exactly what he ached to do with Belle but that would have to wait. Regina looked rattled, but Gold knew a couple of sharp words would call her to action. She hated showing weakness in front of anyone, and would pull herself together. Gold knew he could depend on her.

“Regina, lead everyone down the tunnel. Only come back if it’s blocked and you can’t get out,” Gold ordered. “I’ll wait here.”

“They are dead though right? They look dead,” Neal argued pleadingly. “Dad come with us, just leave them. They aren’t going anywhere.”

“Maybe, and maybe not. Half a ton of rock fell on Graham earlier, and we were certain he was dead. I’m not willing to take any chances,” Gold stated firmly. “Now it is time for you to get out of here.”

“Not without you,” Neal insisted.

“Damn it Neal,” Gold snapped. “I need you out of here now, please just go!”

“The both of you, with me,” Regina said in a tone that brooked no argument. She caught Gold’s eyes and gave him a decisive reassuring nod. She gripped Neal’s arm and tugged it forward. He gave Gold one last pleading glance before sighing heavily.

“You better be right behind us,” Neal threatened, following Regina into the tunnel.

“I’m staying,” Belle told Emma quietly.

“Belle,” Gold said pleadingly. Belle raised an eyebrow at him, shutting him down more effectively than any words could.

Emma nodded in understanding. “We’ll see you on the outside - at least if this tunnel goes anywhere,” she noted wryly, before disappearing down the tunnel after Neal and Regina.

Belle moved over to Gold’s side, slipping her arms round him. Gold held her close, taking a deep breath, still able to smell the faint trace of her shampoo even through the stale bitter air of the tomb. He didn’t want her to stay, because he wanted her to be safe, but he was grateful that she was here anyway. He needed her like air.

“I was going to do it,” Gold muttered, staring at the unmoving form of Jefferson. “He died for us, it shouldn’t have been him.”

“It shouldn’t have been anyone,” Belle murmured, her words muffled against his neck.

“I came here for the power Belle, Regina and I both did,” Gold admitted. “Now Sidney, Graham and Jefferson are dead and all I can think ... all I can think is that it could so easily have been you, or Neal, or Emma and ...”

“Stop it,” Belle said firmly, drawing back to look him in the eye. “The legend brought us both here, we both wanted to know.”

“You wanted to know more of the story, I wanted the power,” Gold corrected, his voice thick with self-loathing.

“We both know what you wanted the power for,” Belle’s voice broke, and a single tear tracked down her cheek. Gently Gold wiped it away, and rested his forehead against hers. “But we don’t need it, we have each other. I love you.”

“And I love you,” Gold breathed.

A few moments later the sound of scraping stone caused them to pull swiftly away from each other. Gold’s eyes fell to the two fallen men, but they didn’t appear to have moved. Then he caught movement by the tunnel, and saw that the secret door was descending back into place. It must be on some kind of timer, so it didn’t stay open and ruin the secret.

Gold stretched out his leg, wincing at the stabbing pain in his knee. He flexed it and a wave of pure agony crashed over him. He bit his lip, swallowing back bile. He knew he’d landed on it pretty hard, but what had he actually done to it? To distract himself he glanced round the chamber. Everything had been so fast paced up until then, that he hadn’t taken the time to give the place a good look.

“What’s that?” Gold asked, pointing to a shadowed shape in one corner.

On first glance it looked like nothing more than a pile of loose rocks, they were everywhere in these ruins, but the texture and shape wasn’t quite right for that. Belle slipped out of his arms, giving the two fallen men a wide berth, she stepped closer. When she was a few feet away, she paused, playing her flashlight over the lump and peering into the gloom.

“It’s a canvas bag,” Belle told him. Gingerly she moved closer, and opened it, the sound of the zip impossibly loud in the quiet of the tomb. Gold’s heart pounded, and skipped a beat when she gasped. “It’s explosives.” Belle twisted and gave him a wry smile. “I guess since Jones didn’t have to blow the door, he had them left.”

Carefully Belle picked up the bag, and brought it with her back over to the sarcophagus, that Gold was leaning against. She placed it gently on the floor and then slipped back into Gold’s waiting arms. He stared at the two hopefully dead men, his quick mind ticking over the problem. If the Dark One wasn’t dead, and just playing possum, then he had the patience of a few thousand years of imprisonment behind him, and he would be able to lay still for a few hours.

Waiting for reinforcements brought in an element of risk Gold wasn’t comfortable with. Both Graham and Jefferson’s bodies had sustained a lot of damage, so if the Dark One survived, he would presumably want a new host. In the chaos of a lot of people entering the tomb, he could possess anyone and nobody would be any the wiser. Gold wanted to take care of this now, and ensure that it wouldn’t be a problem.

Some things should stay buried.

“What are you thinking?” Belle asked him.

“My theory was that if the curse was passed by the dagger, then if both of them were stabbed, it would loop and the curse would end,” Gold explained distractedly.

“Makes sense and there was that flash of light,” Belle pointed out.

“I don’t want to take any chances,” Gold whispered.

The image of Graham holding up a hand and stopping bullets mid-air, or forming a fireball in his hand, came to mind. It completely rewrote the laws of physics. He shivered lightly, it threw the rulebook of the world and what was possible, and what wasn’t, out the window. That was scary, as it took away all certainty. It was the stuff of nightmares and paranoia.

“So let’s blow the place,” Belle suggested, gesturing to the bag of explosives. “The sarcophagus held him for a few thousand years. Burying him in these ruins should do the same.”

Gold shrugged. He had thought Graham had died in the last cave-in, buried under a ton of rubble when the ceiling collapsed. However, bringing the whole ziggurat down around his head, would bury him under a mountain of rock. Belle was right, the sarcophagus had held him, so that amount of stone should as well. If the Dark One still lived, he would be trapped for all eternity under the sands. It was where he should have stayed buried, and would have, if not for three curious teams of archaeologists.

“You are going to have to help me sweetheart.” Gold gestured helplessly to his right leg. “This is the central chamber, if we just plant them here, it should bring the main support column down and collapse the entire ziggurat.”

“The radios can’t penetrate the outside,” Belle reminded him. “We should wait a while to make sure Neal, Emma and Regina got out safely.”

“That is, if the tunnel even opens to the outside, it could be blocked,” Gold noted dryly. His expression twisted as an awful thought occurred to him. “If we set the timer, to give us enough time to get out, then there would be enough time for the explosion to be stopped.”

Belle bit her lip. “They are dead Daniel, this is just a precaution.”

“I know,” Gold agreed hollowly.

It was this tomb, it was the perfect breeding ground for fears and paranoia. In the bright light of day outside, that was if it was still daylight, everything would seem far less scary. He gazed round the central chamber, picking the points where he thought the explosives might do the most damage. Gold nodded to himself, they’d plant the explosives, and give it another hour before setting the timer and leaving.

The trickster god of magic, had been turned on by his own people due to his cruelty. All this would do, was close the book on an epilogue which should never have been started. It was the end of the Dark One’s story, and it was clear that the Dark One was a villain. If there was one thing Gold knew about stories, it was that villains didn’t get happy endings. He just wished that he could be sure that, for the Dark One, this would be _‘the end’_.

*****

_Two Months Later..._

Doctor Daniel Gold leaned heavily on his cane as he limped towards the door of his house. Two months ago, Belle had helped him out of the ruins of the tomb in Rafha, just in time. The explosion had hit moments later, a great cloud of dust chasing them into the desert night and sending them stumbling to the ground. He had been unable to take another step on his shattered leg, through the unstable sand dunes.

Gold had suspected that no rescue would have been forthcoming, and he’d been right. The locals hadn’t even realized that anything had been wrong. If the foolish American’s wanted to shut the door behind them, that was their problem. The Iraqi government hadn’t been pleased about the explosion, and the destruction of whatever priceless relics the tomb contained. Ordinarily Gold would have been the first to agree, but the circumstances changed everything.

The circumstances were also impossible to explain. All of them had kept their mouths firmly shut. Neal had wanted to explain, but had remained silent at his fathers direction. Gold knew that no good would come of talking of a ‘magical Dark One’ because they would either be deemed crazy, perhaps from the desert heat, or worse they would be believed. That tomb needed to stay buried beneath the sands, there needed to be nothing that would seem worthy of another excavation.

He’d had surgery on his knee and the doctors were optimistic that he might walk again without the cane, providing he was diligent with his physio exercises. Gold smiled fondly, Belle was proving quite the taskmaster on that subject. However, only time would tell, and in all honesty Gold didn’t mind the cane. His students had come to dread the quiet tap-tap, and it added to his reputation around campus.

“Sweetheart I’m home,” Gold called out, pushing the door closed.

Tiredly, he limped through the house in search of his wife. Neal had moved out last week, into his college dorm and the house was a lot quieter without him. Gold took a deep breath, there was a wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen. He followed his nose and found Belle heating up some takeout from the Thai restaurant down the street.

Belle looked up at his approach and smiled lovingly at him. “Good day?”

“Same idiot undergrads,” Gold commented dryly. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and took a seat at the table, rubbing his aching knee.

Belle shot him a look of concern. “You didn’t sleep well last night. Another nightmare?”

“Yeah,” Gold admitted with a deep sigh.

He didn’t need to explain what it was about, it was the same every time, had been for the last two months. It didn’t matter that he had witnessed Jefferson stab Graham, that he had seen the flash of light which suggested the curse had broken. It didn’t matter that they both hadn’t moved, and appeared not to be breathing and basically looked dead. It didn’t matter that they had collapsed the ziggurat on top of them, burying them in a mountain of rubble.

In the dark of the night, logic deserted him and he would wake in a cold sweat, imagining a magic pulse throwing the rocks back and the Dark One striding out into the desert. The Dark One could be anywhere, could be possessing anyone, could be doing anything. During the day he knew his fears were just paranoia, but that didn’t stop the nightmares.

Gold would dream of waking up, of the Dark One standing over him. He would turn and see Belle in a pool of blood, her eyes not gazing at him with love, but open and unseeing in death. Then he would look back at the Dark One, who would grin at him menacingly and plunge the wavy silver dagger into his heart.

The clatter of the plate shook Gold from his thoughts, as Belle placed his dinner in front of him. He shook his head, trying to banish the dark thoughts, and forced a smile. He wanted to wipe the look of concern from Belle’s face, he really didn’t want to worry her. It wasn’t fair on her. Though he knew if he expressed that sentiment, she would give him a very unimpressed look and tell him in no uncertain terms that they were partners. He was always there for her, and she would always be there for him.

“This looks wonderful sweetheart, thank you,” Gold said.

Belle reached across the table and laid her hand over his. “You can tell me anything. I’m here and I love you.”

“And I love you,” Gold murmured lightly. “There’s nothing really to tell sweetheart, it was just the same dream. It will fade in time.”

“Ok.” Belle nodded in acceptance. “Oh, Neal called.”

“Oh?” Gold arched an eyebrow, but Belle’s teasing expression told him what the call had been about. He shook his head fondly. “He just couldn’t wait, could he?”

“Nope and Emma of course said yes. Mary Margaret wants them to wait until they graduate before they get married, but I hope she won’t insist on it,” Belle continued. “If she does, then they’ll just come home one day having eloped, you know what they are like and I really want to be there.”

“They won’t elope,” Gold said firmly, his lips quirked. “Well, they might but they’d invite us as their witnesses.”

Belle laughed softly and cringed. “Mary Margaret would really hate us then.”

“Yes, that would not be a fun conversation,” Gold said dryly, feeling himself relax and some of the tension ease out of him.

So long as they were together, they could deal with anything. The power the tomb was rumored to possess had been a draw, but it was nothing compared to the power he already held. What they had together was the most powerful of all magic - true love.


End file.
